Thunder [is] perhaps the pick of the album for me. It traverses different moods, alternating laid-back calm with dramatic, sweeping majesty in a beautiful study in contrasting emotional heft. It hits the spot and then some. This is an interesting one and no mistake. Another of those 'who is this, I wonder?' releases which land..
BILL BRUFORD – Making A Song And Dance: A Complete-Career Collection (BMG)
Bill Bruford is one of those few drummers to have inhabited the rock music arena over the last fifty years who commands the sort of fanbase who will follow him whoever he plays with and whatever genre he chooses to visit. However, it is also conversely true that he has had fingers in so many..
SIMON McBRIDE – The Fighter (EarMusic)
On the basis of this record [McBride] isn't going to leave anyone disappointed with his time in Purple, and there is enough to suggest that he can put just a little bit of his own stamp on proceedings as well. If the name 'Simon McBride' causes you to prick your ears up, that will be..
PURE REASON REVOLUTION – Above Cirrus (InsideOut Music)
Beginning with a sample of speech, [Our Prism] heads into a pulverising yet constantly moving behemoth of a song, occupying its compact three and a half minutes with all the impact of a housebreaker who picks your lock, sneaks into the hallway, throws half a dozen hand grenades into the living room and saunters away..
TOYAH – TOYAH! TOYAH! TOYAH! (CD/DVD Edition) (Cherry Red)
These reissues are a long-overdue reassessment of Toyah's early-'80s output, and reaffirm just how much depth and sheer great musicianship and songwriting there was to her catalogue. The deluxe Toyah reissue series reaches its third instalment here, with this 1980 live album getting the treatment. It is slightly confusing now, as a later compilation album..
German Proggers LONG DISTANCE CALLING release first single ‘Kamilah’ from upcoming album ‘Eraser’
With a reputation as a formidable and dynamic live band, not least due to multiple European tours and high-profile festival appearances, LONG DISTANCE CALLING have been developing towards a crescendo of their artistry for some time now. In 2020, despite being unable to hit the road, the band released their seventh and most absorbing album..
SUZI QUATRO – The Albums 1980-86 / Back To The…Spotlight (Cherry Red / 7Ts)
Back To The Drive is not only the finest Suzi Quatro album, it is one of the standout rock albums of its entire decade. She was, indeed, back! Suzi Quatro has been experiencing something of a career resurgence of late, with an excellent last album (The Devil In Me), and a successful show at the..
Band photo: Steve Gullick
HEADSWIM Announce ‘Flood #Redux’ and reform for intimate show
Trapped Animal records have announced the return of '90s legends Headswim, with a reissue of their seminal psych-grunge masterpiece, Flood, on 7 October 2022. Released on double vinyl and double CD, this deluxe re-issue will feature previously un-released BBC sessions, studio B-sides and experiments by the band and their mad scientist friends on Disc Two! To celebrate the release, Headswim’s..
WINTER IN EDEN – Social Fake (Cherry Red)
The sound - courtesy of Steve Johnson's production - is immense... It grabs you around the head and gets your attention like the musical equivalent of Judge Death opening his helmet visor on you. It's been a long time now since North-East of England prog-metal band Winter In Eden released an album - in fact,..
FIELDS – Feeling Free: The Complete Recordings 1971-73 (Esoteric / Cherry Red)
There are no long epics among [the debut album's] ten tightly composed tracks, but that matters not to an album which is utterly bursting with good, old-fashioned Golden Age prog rock. It is, genuinely, an unsung classic. The list of worthy 1970s bands who have remained largely unsung and, worse, unheard by most people is..